I am trying to keep this simple- slow weight loss, high activity

mrslynda

The last time I was on mfp , I lost weight too quickly, but not on purpose. I had a hard time figuring out how much to eat (the calculator under estimated), and ended up frustrated. I was also too thin to be comfortable, and while my strength improved, I wasn't happy with my body fat and ended up with low blood pressure. Not to mention the comments at work.

This time around I have less to lose and have a better muscle base. Not great , but better. I am also working with guys, and the only trouble they ever cause is wanting my corn chips or lollies...... My activity level however is ridiculous. I am getting a minimum of 15000 steps from work alone and this is done while moving heavy (for me) things. I am also on night shift, and have two daughters , one of whom is autistic and suffering from the preteens, and one who is well and truly at the beginning of puberty. My husband is a sahd , and has a back injury, so eats a lot differently to what I do.

My stats- female 37 years
- 163 pounds 74.1 kg
- 5'7 , 169cm
- activity , very very active at work , moderately active on days off.
Mfp calorie count 2030, eating between 2000 and 3000 calories mostly 3000 and slowly losing.

I would like to reduce my waist size to a healthier size, and maintain muscle and build on my strength. Generally be fitter.

The things I am finding hard - managing my time. I am sometimes not up until the girls are eating or have had dinner. I like to hangout with them before bed, and they like me to be there at bed time. This gives me about two hours before I have to leave for work. This is harder when we are going to aikido, as I get about 2 - 3 hours sleep. It's worse when we have appointments for our eldest. These tend to be Tuesday's. I enjoy lifting weights, but have trouble balancing time to work and time to eat and prepare my work meals. It's also very cold in our garage. We also have a small fridge at the moment and and a small budget.

I don't know how to balance everything. I think my protein goal of 120g is reasonable, though my fat intake tends to be high when I reach that. Should I worry about that if it's mostly animal fats? I know I need carbs for work, so am trying to make sure I get pasta, rice and potatoes in. But I also enjoy veggies, particularly salad, but have trouble getting carbs in when I eat a lot of them. I like fruit, but most I like are low calorie, or like bananas, we get when they are cheap. I find cakes and donuts enjoyable when I don't feel like I have to eat them for my calorie count. I am trying to minimise lollies because too much sugar at once doesn't make me feel good.

This week and maybe the next couple of weeks, I will be having to eat from my pantry. I have heaps of pasta, beans, rice, sauces, chunky soups etc. The kids usually have sausages once a week , so I have leftovers. Also I can get fresh bread at work. We always milk at home and my work over supplies milk as well. My parents chickens are laying well as well. So I am sure my calorie count will be okay, but my macros may be way off.

Overall is this going to be a big problem? Calories would be most important? I am also going to finally start a 'proper' program. I found one on jefit that I can fit with my goals. So any ideas on what I can make and eat quickly before work?

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to try and give enough information. If I can get displined with my eating and training, I might consider a cut/bulk cycle but at the moment that feels too overwhelming.

fb47

mrslynda wrote: »

The last time I was on mfp , I lost weight too quickly, but not on purpose. I had a hard time figuring out how much to eat (the calculator under estimated), and ended up frustrated. I was also too thin to be comfortable, and while my strength improved, I wasn't happy with my body fat and ended up with low blood pressure. Not to mention the comments at work.

This time around I have less to lose and have a better muscle base. Not great , but better. I am also working with guys, and the only trouble they ever cause is wanting my corn chips or lollies...... My activity level however is ridiculous. I am getting a minimum of 15000 steps from work alone and this is done while moving heavy (for me) things. I am also on night shift, and have two daughters , one of whom is autistic and suffering from the preteens, and one who is well and truly at the beginning of puberty. My husband is a sahd , and has a back injury, so eats a lot differently to what I do.

My stats- female 37 years
- 163 pounds 74.1 kg
- 5'7 , 169cm
- activity , very very active at work , moderately active on days off.
Mfp calorie count 2030, eating between 2000 and 3000 calories mostly 3000 and slowly losing.

I would like to reduce my waist size to a healthier size, and maintain muscle and build on my strength. Generally be fitter.

The things I am finding hard - managing my time. I am sometimes not up until the girls are eating or have had dinner. I like to hangout with them before bed, and they like me to be there at bed time. This gives me about two hours before I have to leave for work. This is harder when we are going to aikido, as I get about 2 - 3 hours sleep. It's worse when we have appointments for our eldest. These tend to be Tuesday's. I enjoy lifting weights, but have trouble balancing time to work and time to eat and prepare my work meals. It's also very cold in our garage. We also have a small fridge at the moment and and a small budget.

I don't know how to balance everything. I think my protein goal of 120g is reasonable, though my fat intake tends to be high when I reach that. Should I worry about that if it's mostly animal fats? I know I need carbs for work, so am trying to make sure I get pasta, rice and potatoes in. But I also enjoy veggies, particularly salad, but have trouble getting carbs in when I eat a lot of them. I like fruit, but most I like are low calorie, or like bananas, we get when they are cheap. I find cakes and donuts enjoyable when I don't feel like I have to eat them for my calorie count. I am trying to minimise lollies because too much sugar at once doesn't make me feel good.

This week and maybe the next couple of weeks, I will be having to eat from my pantry. I have heaps of pasta, beans, rice, sauces, chunky soups etc. The kids usually have sausages once a week , so I have leftovers. Also I can get fresh bread at work. We always milk at home and my work over supplies milk as well. My parents chickens are laying well as well. So I am sure my calorie count will be okay, but my macros may be way off.

Overall is this going to be a big problem? Calories would be most important? I am also going to finally start a 'proper' program. I found one on jefit that I can fit with my goals. So any ideas on what I can make and eat quickly before work?

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to try and give enough information. If I can get displined with my eating and training, I might consider a cut/bulk cycle but at the moment that feels too overwhelming.

It's all about calories, the rest are just tools. As long as you put yourself in a caloric deficit, ideally you shouldn't be losing more than 1% of your bodyweight per week. For example, in my case, I am 164 lbs and on my cut, I shouldn't be losing more than 1,64 lbs per week (why???? 164 X 1% = 1.64). Beyond that and I may lose muscles at a faster rate. Whether you do cardio or not, your goal is to be a small caloric deficit, meaning you eat less than you burn, provided that you don't lose too much either like I explained above.

Your protein should be ideally at 1g per lbs of bodyweight since you are losing weight (if I read that correctly), if you were recomping or bulking, then I would stick with the minimum of 0,8g of protein per lbs of bodyweight.

As for carbs and fats, that's an area I don't usually care for, I suggest you simply to not have fats very low, that can *kitten* up your hormones. I'll have days where my fats are at 45% and others at 15%....it doesn't really matter as long as I don't have them too low.

As for what you can make quickly before work, if I need high protein and high carbs before work, I simply make a quick instant oats blended with protein powder (or even powdered peanut butter will do the job) and you can mix with fruits if you would like. If you want to add fats, you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil too. Greek yogurt parfait too would be a quick breakfast option (Greek yogurt with nuts/granola, fruit and maple syrup (or honey if you prefer).

Not sure if you had a question in mind, but I hope what I wrote may help you in some way.